I am currently salaried with two employers, working from home. For one I work 24 hours a week and my gross hourly wage is £12.

For the second company I work 22 hours my gross hourly wage is £10.

I am in the process of moving to France and because of the red tape for both them and me, it looks (sadly) like my last option is to go self-employed. Neither employer has expressed any major concerns regarding that - nor would they since the French Social Security contributions they would have to pay alone amount to around 45% of my gross earnings. As you might gather, I am in the perhaps (in today's business climate) luxurious position of working for small employers doing not so much highly skilled work, but certainly work that would require much time and investment in training up someone to replace me - both are keen to retain me in some capacity.

My concern now is that I have to try and work out my self-employed hourly rate, should I take this route. Would it remain as it is or should I increase it because I have to make my own deductions? If the latter is so, by how much should I increase the rate?

If anyone can think of any negatives for my employers allowing me to be self-employed, I would be grateful to hear all comments as the last thing I want to do is exploit them, or to have them exploit me.

I am not really looking for any answers on the France aspect as I have spent much time discussing my circumstances with Eures advisers, French chambers of commerce and representatives of portage salarial organisations - and I am well aware of how much of my pay I am likely to 'lose'. That said, any expert advice I can get my mits on for nowt would obviously not be sniffed at!

One thing I would look at is the overheads. They would be paying Ni, Pension contribution, insurance etc, so make sure you increase your rates to take allowance for the money they are saving. On average when I go into a company on a similar basis to yourself I double the hourly wage then let then knock me down 10%._________________Ian, Director Gaddon (RF Training)
gaddon@gaddon.co.ukwww.gaddon.co.uk

Actually there are pro's and con's with both being self employed and working as an employee. Self employment is a big step though, maybe think it over a bit weither or not the company you would be contracting with wouldnt mind you increasing your pay without the threat of them finding someone else to work for cheaper.

If you have a good rep you may be luck to have them keep you and let you work at home. But the biggest difference is being self employed vs employed with the company is that you have to take care of everything yourself, including buying supplies and cost of anything you may need like a computer (either seperate for work or running it keeping it up to date with the latest software). If you can manage being in your home everyday without the normal social interaction then it could be the most rewarding thing you've done, i know as im self employed plus if you were bored enough you could find otherways to make money working online.